Patricia Oblack
Glencoe, Missouri
As a child in the 1950s, Patricia Oblack sat in front of the television and learned to draw with Jon Gnagy’s New Television Art Instruction Book. The exercise led to a love of art, and in 1962 she begged her mother to purchase lessons from Art Instruction, Inc. in Minneapolis. Within a few weeks, a box arrived with art supplies, including her first palette knife. Patricia finished every lesson, and was in good company–another student of the school was renowned Peanuts cartoonist Charles M. Schulz. From that humble beginning, Patricia became a lifelong artist, currently creating dark, earthy abstracts, which she paints with the same palette knife from childhood.
Artist Statement
My journey as an artist has been defined by a relentless pursuit of creative mastery, allowing me to wield crayons, brushes, pencils, paint, and palette knives with the ease of drawing breath. Throughout my extensive career, I have absorbed wisdom from various successful art-related ventures, ultimately guiding me toward the realm of abstraction within the domain of Fine Art. My artistic approach is a product of my unique vision, emphasizing the layering and interweaving of colors on panels and paper. Rather than producing realistic representations, my works are interpretations, hovering just shy of recognizable features. They evoke the sense of lost or forgotten places, eroded forests, fragments of frescoes, remnants of stone, or ancient walls and wastelands weathered by time. My process is characterized by the harmonious interplay of addition and subtraction, utilizing the tilt and turn of palette knives to manipulate the paint's movement across the canvas. Through a fusion of improvisational gestures, mark-making, horizon lines, and intuitive strokes, each painting undergoes a transformative journey that culminates in a harmonious composition. I consider myself a facilitator, allowing the board, music, and my knives to take the lead, striving toward the realization of the final artwork. Each painting possesses a distinct essence, with the back of every piece inscribed with the composer or musician's name whose artistry inspired its creation. Several of my art series are dedicated to these talented individuals.